Resources Database

Predictions from the Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) Forecast are not representations of fact or guarantees of future toxicity levels, and this forecast cannot be used to determine whether seafood is safe to eat or harvest. Determinations of safety should be based on shellfish toxicity testing. This forecast is the product of a collaboration between the Maine Department of Marine Resources and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

Lists all upcoming aquaculture public meetings, hearings, and scoping sessions and give the date, time, town and location for them.

Comprehensive information on aquaculture leases and Limited-Purpose Aquaculture (LPA) licenses, including details on active and denied lease decisions, pending applications, and interactive data tables with links to maps and documents.

DMR resources for growers including approved hatcheries, biosecurity, shellfish sanitation, harvest and reporting, and forms.

List of all forms including volunteer quality assurance training, training checklist, application and liability waiver, water sampling field data sheet, and a data sheet for GPS coordinates.

Licenses AND Sanitation Certificates must be applied for online! This is new and the preferred system for applications now. This includes Shellstock Shipper Certificate, Shucker-Packer Certificate, Shellfish Reshipper Certificate, and Depuration Processor Certificate.

List of all forms used by the Bureau of Public Health.

A variety of tenacious myths critical of marine aquaculture practiced in the United States have persisted for decades to be presented as facts to the public and Congress. The reality is U.S. fish and shellfish farmers culture aquatic animals and plants within a very complicated and expensive legal, regulatory, husbandry, and science-driven environment. We believe critics are unfamiliar with this environment or have erroneously assumed marine aquaculture-related environmental damage reported in other countries occurs in the United States.

This brochure explains the benefits of eating locally farmed seafood including freshness, heart-health, food safety, good nutrition, and community benefits.

This brochure reviews what Vibrio is and how to reduce illness from Vibrio by achieving and maintaining temperature controls when harvesting and transporting shellfish.

In September 2023 the ECSGA updated its 2010 Best Management Practices manual. Building on the 2010 version, this update adds a new section on the management and handling of floating gear, hundreds of embedded links, info on new gear types and a revised bibliography. ECSGA also completely revamped the tool to create your own farm-specific Best Practices document: the Best Practices Form.

List of the over 200 harbor masters and deputy harbor masters in The State of Maine Harbor Masters Association.

This document is intended to help Maine restaurant owners and staff understand the risks of handling shellfish, and how to manage them safely and effectively.

Social license to operate (SLO), a concept that describes community acceptance and approval of incoming industry, offers a lens for better understanding these barriers and an opportunity to identify strategies for successful development. Efforts to measure and predict social license have begun, but these efforts primarily focus on company actions and impacts. This study seeks to expand the utility of social license within the aquaculture sector by developing a preliminary quantitative framework that can predict a community’s willingness to issue SLO prior to siting.

A list that contains the names of markets and restaurants that are licensed to purchase shellfish directly from harvesters, then sell them in the retail trade only.

List all interstate certified shippers that can ship fresh and frozen oysters, clams, mussels, whole or roe-on scallops and is published monthly.

Answers basic questions about Maine DMR's Aquaculture Harvest License such as: Who should have it?, What is it? What does it cost?, What does this license allow you to do?, How do I apply?, and Who should I contact with questions?

This flowchart maps the different licenses you need to have to sell your aquaculture shellfish out of state by mail or by vehicle, and in the state of Maine including selling direct to restaurants, and wholesale distributors, at a farmer's market, your home, and your lease site.

A basic list of what licenses you need to sell your aquaculture shellfish at your home, at your lease site, to your local grocery/general store, roadside, to a restaurant, to a wholesale distributor, at a farmers market, or out of state.

The goal of a Vibrio Control or Vibrio Management Plan is to control the safety of molluscan shellfish for human consumption by preventing unnecessary growth of bacterial pathogens resulting from improper or ineffective cooling or from time to temperature abuse.

The Bureau of Public Health oversees the the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) within Maine in order to keep molluscan shellfish safe for human consumption.

Maine Growing Area Closures: Shellfish Area Inventory with Legal Notices and Maps

Uses the standards outlined in the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) to monitor levels of PSP (“Red Tide”) and other marine biotoxins in the shellfish of the State of Maine.